. congressman bud brown and joyce brown and his father, clarence brown, who also served in the united states congress. the list gos on and on. the -- to follow these great leaders, to have the opportunity to serve behind my mentors, has been a great honor. you know, i often will walk, when i'm here in washington, walk through the halls of the capitol at night when there's very few people around. i can tell you the history, the tradition, the integrity of this capitol is still there. and it speaks to you at night. often as i walk through the halls of the capitol or traveling throughout the district, folks will come up to me and remind me that when one door closes, another opens. and that god has a plan for all of us. as i begin the next chapter of my life with my wife of 26 years, eileen, and our three boys, brian, kevin and eric, i want to take this great experience, the knowledge, the memories from here in congress with me in the future. and i always will remember the advice my father gave to me when i first ran for my first office nearly 25 years ago, local precinct, county central committ